Staley resigns tourism position as executive director of sports

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox , left, looks on as Tuscaloosa Sports Foundation executive director Don Staley speaks during a press conference in the mayor's office April 8, 2009, on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. The two announced that the cities of Tuscaloosa and Auburn will rotate hosting the Super Six high school football championships.

Staff file photo | The Tuscaloosa News

By Patrick RupinskiBusiness Editor

Published: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 at 9:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 at 9:02 p.m.

Don Staley, who led the effort to bring football's Super 6 Championships to Tuscaloosa, submitted a letter of resignation to the Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports Commission on Tuesday.

Staley, the commission's executive director of sports, gave no reason in the letter for resigning but told The Tuscaloosa News in a phone interview that he has a job opportunity elsewhere. He declined to identify the job, saying the contract has not been signed. He said he would stay in the Southeast and that the new job would give him something that “I feel I can sell.”

In the past few years, Staley was a leading advocate of a proposal to add more football, soccer and baseball fields and other amenities at Munny Sokol and Bowers parks in an effort to attract more sporting tournaments and their tourism dollars to the Tuscaloosa area. The parks improvement proposal at one time exceeded $20 million in improvements.

The parks are jointly funded by the city of Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa County. City officials generally favored adding new sports fields, but county officials generally wanted recreation funds spent throughout the county. Late last year, the city and county finally agreed to spend $7.5 million to upgrade existing facilities at the two parks but not build additional fields or facilities.

Asked Tuesday if the decision not to add more sporting facilities was a factor in his resignation, Staley said that was a difficult question to answer but then said there was a possibility that he would not have considered the job opportunity if the sporting fields expansion had been approved.

“Not getting the sporting complex is a disappointment ...,” he said. “But I am a believer that when one door closes, another opens.”

Staley, 55, has lived in Tuscaloosa for 21 years, coming here to start the women's soccer program at the University of Alabama, serving as the team's coach. He previously had coached soccer at Radford University in Virginia.

In 2007, he left coaching to become executive director of the newly formed Tuscaloosa Sports Foundation. The foundation's initial goal was to make a bid for the Super 6 Championships for high school football.

The championship games were being played at Birmingham's Legion Field, but a joint proposal from Tuscaloosa and Auburn brought the championships to those two cities' university stadiums in alternating years, with the campus not hosting the Iron Bowl getting the Super 6.

Four years ago, the sports foundation merged with the Tuscaloosa Convention and Visitors Bureau to form the Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports Commission.

Susan West, the commission's CEO, said Staley would be missed.

“It will be huge shoes to fill in our organization,” she said. “No one had more to do with bringing sports tourism to Tuscaloosa than Don Staley.”

She said sports tourism unrelated to UA athletics has a $20 million yearly economic impact in Tuscaloosa with the city hosting more than 100 non-UA sporting events.

She said Staley “set the bar for us as we move to the next level.”

She said the commission will now evaluate the executive director of sports position and then do a job search.

Mayor Walt Maddox said: “Working with Don has been an honor and a privilege. He has been a tireless public servant who has delivered big-time results for Tuscaloosa. Clearly, his work has made our community a much better place.”

In his resignation letter, which was sent to West and the commission's board, Staley asked to meet with the commission's executive committee to discuss his exit plans.

In the letter, he thanked the founding members of the sports foundation, Walt Maddox, the City Council and Gina Simpson, the commission president during the time Staley served as the commission's interim president.

“This was not a rash decision on my part, but something that I have been pondering for some time,” he wrote. “However, in sports as in life, things change and it's time for a new chapter in my life.”

<p>Don Staley, who led the effort to bring football's Super 6 Championships to Tuscaloosa, submitted a letter of resignation to the Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports Commission on Tuesday.</p><p>Staley, the commission's executive director of sports, gave no reason in the letter for resigning but told The Tuscaloosa News in a phone interview that he has a job opportunity elsewhere. He declined to identify the job, saying the contract has not been signed. He said he would stay in the Southeast and that the new job would give him something that “I feel I can sell.”</p><p>In the past few years, Staley was a leading advocate of a proposal to add more football, soccer and baseball fields and other amenities at Munny Sokol and Bowers parks in an effort to attract more sporting tournaments and their tourism dollars to the Tuscaloosa area. The parks improvement proposal at one time exceeded $20 million in improvements.</p><p>The parks are jointly funded by the city of Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa County. City officials generally favored adding new sports fields, but county officials generally wanted recreation funds spent throughout the county. Late last year, the city and county finally agreed to spend $7.5 million to upgrade existing facilities at the two parks but not build additional fields or facilities.</p><p>Asked Tuesday if the decision not to add more sporting facilities was a factor in his resignation, Staley said that was a difficult question to answer but then said there was a possibility that he would not have considered the job opportunity if the sporting fields expansion had been approved.</p><p>“Not getting the sporting complex is a disappointment ...,” he said. “But I am a believer that when one door closes, another opens.”</p><p>Staley, 55, has lived in Tuscaloosa for 21 years, coming here to start the women's soccer program at the University of Alabama, serving as the team's coach. He previously had coached soccer at Radford University in Virginia.</p><p>In 2007, he left coaching to become executive director of the newly formed Tuscaloosa Sports Foundation. The foundation's initial goal was to make a bid for the Super 6 Championships for high school football.</p><p>The championship games were being played at Birmingham's Legion Field, but a joint proposal from Tuscaloosa and Auburn brought the championships to those two cities' university stadiums in alternating years, with the campus not hosting the Iron Bowl getting the Super 6.</p><p>Four years ago, the sports foundation merged with the Tuscaloosa Convention and Visitors Bureau to form the Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports Commission.</p><p>Susan West, the commission's CEO, said Staley would be missed.</p><p>“It will be huge shoes to fill in our organization,” she said. “No one had more to do with bringing sports tourism to Tuscaloosa than Don Staley.”</p><p>She said sports tourism unrelated to UA athletics has a $20 million yearly economic impact in Tuscaloosa with the city hosting more than 100 non-UA sporting events.</p><p>She said Staley “set the bar for us as we move to the next level.”</p><p>She said the commission will now evaluate the executive director of sports position and then do a job search.</p><p>Mayor Walt Maddox said: “Working with Don has been an honor and a privilege. He has been a tireless public servant who has delivered big-time results for Tuscaloosa. Clearly, his work has made our community a much better place.”</p><p>In his resignation letter, which was sent to West and the commission's board, Staley asked to meet with the commission's executive committee to discuss his exit plans.</p><p>In the letter, he thanked the founding members of the sports foundation, Walt Maddox, the City Council and Gina Simpson, the commission president during the time Staley served as the commission's interim president. </p><p>“This was not a rash decision on my part, but something that I have been pondering for some time,” he wrote. “However, in sports as in life, things change and it's time for a new chapter in my life.”</p>